I regard Percy Seymour as one of the boldest and most exciting scientific thinkers of our time. He is one of a small group of pioneers who have created a revolution, which includes Michel Gauquelin, David Bohm, Frijhof Capra, and Rupert Sheldrake. Yet although perhaps the least known, he is, in many ways, the most accessible of this group, and I regard one of his books,
The Third Level of Reality [formerly known as The Paranormal], as a masterpiece. This is his most comprehensive and, for me, his most exciting book. I would suggest that it is as important as
The Tao of Physics, A New Science of Life, or Wholeness and the Implicate
Order.

He begins with a simple but brilliant account of modern physics, including the theory of relativity, quantum theory, and the latest speculations about quarks and superstrings. He also attaches particular importance to what has become known as Bell's Inequality Theorem. John Bell demonstrated that if two particles (such as photons) collide then fly apart at the speed of light, they can still influence one another; if one changes direction, so does the other -- in spite of Einstein's assertion that the speed of light cannot he exceeded, and that communication should therefore be impossible. Bell’s theorem has since been demonstrated in the laboratory and it seems to show that there is a sense in which all parts of the universe are connected. Separateness, as Bohm also thought, is a kind of illusion.

After explaining quark theory, superstring theory, and the more recent bootstrap theory, Seymour suggests his own theory of elementary particles and their interaction -- the plasma space theory. A plasma is a hot gas whose atoms have had the outer electrons stripped off through collisions. They are known as ions. The ions and the freed electrons react to magnetic fields -- they will “thread” along the lines of force like beads on a string. What Seymour is suggesting is that, in addition to “ordinary space,” there is another kind of space -- “plasma space,” which is threaded with lines of force. Seymour believes the universe can only be understood in terms of what he calls cosmic magnetic fields.

In 1989, Seymour saw the Northern Lights near Plymouth. It is unusual to see them this far south, but he realized that the explanation was that three or more planets were in line with the sun, changing the direction of the “solar wind” (made of plasma), which causes the Aurora Borealis.

It was this, and his theory of “plasma space,” that gave rise to the thought that the astrological observations of Gauquelin may be explained in terms of lines of magnetic force. And when these lines of force are “plucked” by an encounter with another force, they vibrate -- or resonate -- like a plucked violin string. We could think of the solar system as a kind of cat's cradle of lines of force between the planets, all resonating like strings, which in turn produce an effect on the magnetic field of the earth. And Seymour suggests that newborn babies are suddenly subjected to this “symphony” as they emerge from the womb, and that the “tune” we hear affects us for the rest of our lives.

The Third Level of Reality goes on to explore even more controversial aspects of his plasma space theory. He discusses the strange evidence that has accumulated from recent cases of twins. The “Jim twins” from Ohio were separated at birth and met for the first time 39 years later. Both had been named Jim by their adoptive parents; both had dogs called Troy; both had worked as gas station attendants, then for the same hamburger chain; both had been married twice, first to girls called Linda, then to girls called Betty, and both drove Chevrolets and took their holidays at the same time of year on the same stretch of beach in Florida.

Several other pairs of twins had died at the same moment; when a girl called Peg was killed in a car crash, the steering column penetrating her chest, her twin Helen woke up with an agonizing pain in her chest, and died on the way to the hospital. In Seymour's theory, the twins remain “connected” -- like Bell’s particles -- and the various “coincidences” are due to this connection.

Seymour goes on to discuss telepathy, ghosts, doppelgangers (“psychic doubles”), and precognition, and shows how all can be neatly fitted neatly into his theory. It can be seen why I regard Percy Seymour as one of the most exciting minds in modern science.